Police investigating racist epithet written in Abbotsford school

Teenagers wrote a racial epithet on a whiteboard at Auguston Traditional Elementary School Wednesday afternoon, police say.

Between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., a custodian found a group of children who had written a message including the “n-word” in a classroom near the front entrance, said Sgt. Judy Bird with the Abbotsford Police Department (APD). They also broke eggs in a fridge in a neighbouring classroom, she said.

Bird said the kids were “not being racist” as there there was “no context” to the language because the classroom’s teacher is not black. She said it was “just kids being juvenile.”

Bird said they did not break into the school.

Police are investigating and trying to identify the suspects, Bird said.

The Abbotsford school district’s spokesperson, Kayla Stuckart, said the school is under a shelter-in-place today, which means the front door is locked, to help the APD in their investigation. She said parents and visitors can still access the school by knocking on the front door and being let in by school staff.